Beautiful Friends

exquisite helpers,
angelic-heavy lifters

We’ve all become entangled in misfortune, at one time or another: titanic financial loss, overwhelming health issues, ripping loneliness, mystifying rejection, just plain rotten luck, or the undeniable need for light when shrouded in darkness. The tortuous tentacles refuse even our loudest pleas to let go.

Step in Beautiful Friends.  An ode to all the helpers—be they human or animal or divine—this anthology spins twelve tales of help from unexpected sources. With a dusting of humor and a few bolts of sarcasm, the stories span the depths of friendship and transcend even the magic of love and compassion.

• Loretta becomes a star, in the literal sense.
• A pearl hatpin divulges meaning to two women riding a Manhattan bus.
• Beachy, a new orphan with superhuman prowess, defends a hapless friend.
• Seona finds reason to love again, with a lot of inhuman help.
• Ethel Anne learns—you never know what’ll come of it—with the guidance of eccentric, steadfast friends and family.
• Celia learns a thing or two walking in the night’s snow.
• Miss Jean nurses an old car to a spectacular new life.
• Merkesse provides shelter, when there is none.
• Soda and Westmarie bring the stars back to light the heavens.
• Janey, an unlikely coworker, insists Paula stand up to a bully.
• Edna Pruitt ponders, will fortune cookies lead her to love?
• An encounter with a vocal mallard enlightens Harriet Long.

Beautiful Friends is available in paperback and kindle formats.